Kentucky Softball Gets Huge Series Win Against No. 20 Ole Miss

Hallie Mitchell - Tyler Ruth, UK Athletics

Kentucky softball (21-11; 5-4 SEC) scraped by No. 20 Ole Miss with two wins and one loss over the weekend to secure another SEC victory. It was such an exciting series between both sides, with neither team winning by more than three runs.

Extra Innings Mean Extra Fun

Kentucky had their most exciting game of the year on Friday night, taking down No. 20 Ole Miss 9-6. It took nine innings to decide the winner of this one. Senior Hallie Mitchell hit a 3-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to walk it off for Kentucky, giving them their first ranked win of the season.

Hallie Mitchell was the Wildcat’s savior all night, filling in for the injured McKenzie Bump. Bump announced before Friday’s game that she suffered a season-ending injury in their game against Bellarmine earlier in the week.

Usually a catcher for Kentucky or sometimes the left fielder, Mitchell was slotted as the designated player this weekend. She took that role and ran with it, hitting two home runs on the night, including the walk-off.

Her first home run came in the fifth inning. The 2-run shot gave the Wildcats a four-run lead.

The celebrations stopped after that as Ole Miss tied the game with four runs of their own in the sixth. The late-game run took the game to extra innings, Kentucky’s first extra-inning game of the season.

In the bottom of the ninth, Kentucky put on two runners as Mitchell came to the plate. She took a pitch right over the middle of the plate and hit it to the longest part of the ballpark over the center field wall.

Mitchell, Party of 3, your bases are ready 🤗 pic.twitter.com/EDNuF7nnhc
— Kentucky Softball (@UKsoftball) March 22, 2025

Sixth Inning Woes

For the second night in a row, Ole Miss scored four runs in the sixth inning to get a win over Kentucky 6-4. Kentucky led the entire game until that inning, taking away a potential series win.

Kentucky was great at both facets of the game on Saturday. They had their bats going early and made some fantastic defensive plays to help build the lead.

Early doubles from Peyton Plotts and Allie Blum helped Kentucky go up by three. Despite a 2-run home run from Ole Miss in the fourth, the Wildcats were able to sustain the lead for the majority of the game.

ALLIE BLUMMMMM puts Kentucky up by two!!

2-0, Bot 2nd pic.twitter.com/ZrXVbyS54M
— Eleanor Beavin (@EBeavinKSR) March 22, 2025

The sixth inning was tough for Kentucky. Several extra-base hits allowed Ole Miss to take a three-run lead late in the game.

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Kentucky fought back in the seventh. Madyson Clark got herself a triple and eventually scored to cut the lead to two. The ‘Cats couldn’t get anything after that and dropped the second game of the series.

Series Clincher For The Cats

Kentucky was able to bounce back on Sunday, clinching the series win with a 4-2 win over the Rebels. UK trailed for most of the game but reeled it in with some huge plays across the board.

The Wildcats were down by two runs in the fourth, struggling to score their base runners. Delani Sullivan changed the narrative with a RBI sac-fly to left field to put Kentucky within one.

Later in the inning, Ally Hutchins was up to bat with two outs and two strikes on her. All Kentucky needed was one lucky play to reignite their chances in this game. Hutchins struck out swinging, but the ball rolled past the catcher allowing her to get to first base and score another runner.

Onto the fifth inning, Peyton Plotts came up huge with a solo home run to give Kentucky its first lead of the game. This was her sixth home run of the year.

PEYTON PLOTTS GIVES KENTUCKY THE LEAD!!!!

3-2, Bot 5th pic.twitter.com/GTz2e9dClm
— Eleanor Beavin (@EBeavinKSR) March 23, 2025

Heading into the seventh inning, Ole Miss would need two runs to extend the game. The Rebels had a runner on first base and slammed a ball into deep right field. Plotts miraculously caught the ball and got the runner out at first to take the threat away.

Peyton Plotts with a game saving double play!!!

4-2, Top 7th pic.twitter.com/96CHn405tS
— Eleanor Beavin (@EBeavinKSR) March 23, 2025

Kentucky went on to get the last out and win the game. Kentucky has won two SEC series now, putting themselves in great position nearly halfway through conference play.